Группа Learning English. Продолжение текста: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/scripts/insight/tae_insight_04_080814.pdf
Jackie: Money is a powerful force. From the notes and coins in our pockets to the billions that flow around the world each day –It drives business and the economy. Money is the topic of this second chance to hear Insight Plus - your guide to the language you hear every day in the news, first broadcast in 2001. For BBC Learning English.com, here’s Lyse Doucet. Lyse: Money and financial activity are essential to our world. Technology and communication are now developing at such a fast pace, fortunes can be made and lost in minutes. Our world is also becoming a smaller place. Contacts between countries are growing and what happens in one place can have a profound effect around the world. That’s especially true of money. You can hear it when you listen to programmes on business and finance. They usually include reports on what’s happening on the most important stock markets or stock exchanges. These are places where companies can raise money, by selling a share of their business. Investors try to buy shares in companies with the best prospects. The more profitable the firm, the more the value of the shares will increase. Shareholders are effectively buying a piece of the company, or equity Most countries have their own equity or stock and they list their most important companies, and the value of their shares, on a list or index. The names of the most powerful indices are famous – you’ve probably heard about the Dow Jones in New York, the FTSE in London, Hong Kong’s index is called the Hang Seng and in Japan it’s the Nikkei. This report from Russell Padmore of the BBC’s Business Unit mentions the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq. Clip It’s been a rollercoaster day for stocks in New York as the technology driven Nasdaq Index again dropped in value. At one stage the Nasdaq fell around five per cent to reach its lowest level for a year. The Dow Jones Index also fell but has steadied slightly. Lyse: Stock exchanges have traditionally been buildings where traders buy and sell shares on a trading floor. But now, so much trading is done electronically, through computers, some exchanges don’t even need a physical space. Nasdaq is the largest electronic stock market in the world. It’s based in New York and specializes in high technology companies such as the makers of electronics and internet software. The BBC’s World Service Business unit reports daily on the movements of the world’s main stock markets. Here’s that report from Russell Padmore again. He says it’s been a rollercoaster day – what does he mean by that? Clip It’s been a rollercoaster day for stocks in New York as the technology driven Nasdaq Index again dropped in value. At one stage the Nasdaq fell around five per cent to reach its lowest level for a year. The Dow Jones Index also fell but has steadied slightly. Lyse: It was an exciting and nerve wracking day for Nasdaq. The value of shares in its companies went up and down like a roller coaster. The value of shares traded - bought and sold – on the Dow Jones Index was lower, but there was less dramatic movement and the market eventually stopped its huge fluctuations, it steadied slightly. What causes this movement? Here’s more of that report. Clip It’s been a rollercoaster day for stocks in New York as the technology driven Nasdaq Index again dropped in value. At one stage the Nasdaq fell around five per cent to reach its lowest level for a year. The Dow Jones Index also fell but has steadied slightly. The markets were driven lower by news from Hewlett Packard admitting that its fourth quarter earnings fall far short of forecasts, by as much as 20 percent. Hewlett surprised the markets by releasing the news two days ahead of schedule. ...